A medical device with a base unit and with auxiliary devices that can be connected to the base unit is known from DE 201 13 789 U1. The auxiliary devices are flexible tube systems, containers and functional elements, which are necessary for the operation of the medical device. A transponder, which contains data on the type of the auxiliary device and the manufacturer, is arranged on each of the auxiliary devices. These data are detected by a transponder polling device attached to the base unit. and it is also possible to store data on the memory chip of the transponder via the transponder polling device. Due to the transponders arranged at the auxiliary devices, the base unit knows at any point in time with which auxiliary devices it is equipped.
A carbon dioxide absorber is needed in rebreathing operation in medical devices from the area of the anesthesia respiration technique in order to remove the carbon dioxide breathed out by a patient from the breathing gas. Various embodiments of carbon dioxide absorbers are offered here. In one group of absorbers, the absorber housing is opened and breathing lime (Atemkalk—a mixture of calcium hydroxide and alkali phosphate) is filled in as a bulk material. The breathing lime is disposed of later after use and replaced with fresh breathing lime. Disposable absorbers, which are disposed of completely after use, are known as well.
The depletion is determined by visual reading of the color change of the breathing lime. Since the limit of the color change frequently cannot be recognized unambiguously, the depletion can be estimated only roughly. It is therefore common practice in prior-art devices to change the absorber or the breathing lime in the absorber according to a fixed cycle. However, the capacity of the breathing lime is therefore frequently utilized only partially, because the interval at which the replacement is performed is determined according to the most unfavorable mode of operation.